Q7

[willzyling]

The primary purpose of the passage is to:

a) illustrate the wide range of Tutuola's body of work
b) explain the significance of the literary genre of the folktale and to defend it as a valid art form
c) provide an account of Tutuola's body of work in order to help establish appropriate criteria for its evaluation
d) distinguish accurately between the genre of the novel and that of the folktale
e) summarize the disagreement among critics regarding Tutuola's place in world literature

I chose E after crossing out all the other answer choices. Can someone explain why C is correct because I didn't think the passage's primary purpose was to provide an account of Tutuola's body of work at all.

Thanks.

[jewels0602]

The primary purpose of the passage is to:

a) illustrate the wide range of Tutuola's body of work
b) explain the significance of the literary genre of the folktale and to defend it as a valid art form
c) provide an account of Tutuola's body of work in order to help establish appropriate criteria for its evaluation
d) distinguish accurately between the genre of the novel and that of the folktale
e) summarize the disagreement among critics regarding Tutuola's place in world literature

I chose E after crossing out all the other answer choices. Can someone explain why C is correct because I didn't think the passage's primary purpose was to provide an account of Tutuola's body of work at all.

Thanks.

I'm not a LSAT geek, but I'll try and explain this question best I can.

You're right, the primary purpose wasn't to provide an account of Tutuola's body of work; but, that's not what C says. It says that the passage provides an account of Tutuola's body of work in order to help establish the appropriate criteria for its evaluation.

We can see this by looking at lines 11-15. The author states that the critics are wrong for dismissing Tutuola's work on the grounds they do and goes on to describe why they are wrong-- because they are not considering Tutuola's work within the right framework (criteria). Viewing the work within African oral tradition is more appropriate.

I hope this helps at least a little bit-- it was the reasoning I used to get to the right AC.

[maryadkins]

Excellent explanation! I hope this clarified things re: (E) and the correct answer, (C).

As for the others:

Likewise, because the author DOES express a clear opinion and purpose for writing, (A) is incorrect.

(B) and (D) are too general.

[willzyling]

Thank you so much for all your help!